Sunday, April 01, 2007

Becks & Posh to Become a Craft Blog.

I am so over Food!
I couldn't stand the heat, so I'm out of the kitchen


picture photograph embroidered denim jacket hippy 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
I started crafting at an early age - here is a denim jacket I dug out of my closet. I embroidered it by hand when I was a teen


Last Sunday I received more attention than I could handle after my photograph was in the San Francisco Chronicle and I was featured in the accompanying article that seemed to generally imply that food bloggers are no better than the scum of the earth. Over the course of the following days, when Michael Bauer and his supporters weighed in on food bloggers and blogging, again, on his own food blog, Between Meals, it became clear I should never be a restaurant critic, amateur or otherwise, because my skin is not thick enough.

I read all the criticisms weighed against me and my like and after a lot of self questioning I realised that there are a lot of people out there who make very good points. Really, what right do I have to write about food or restaurants? Who am I kidding? Eating a meal every day for 40 years is clearly not a suitable qualification for writing about food. There are several other compelling reasons why I should perhaps stop this food blogging malarkey right now and think about nice things like needlework instead:

Reasons to stop writing about food on Becks & Posh


- I have never been to proper culinary school.

- OK, so I have spent thousands of dollars on cooking classes at Tante Marie's (I start my fifth course next week), but I don't have any diplomas or degrees to to show for it.

- I am not a real journalist. I know that British National newspaper The Daily Mail used to pay me a pound ($2ish) a word to write for them but I was only a freelancer. Sure, I edited and wrote for a magazine full-time for almost a year too, but that was ages ago and I've forgotten what it was like to work in print media.

- I have a First Class BA (Hons) in Communication and Media and although we took a journalism and writing courses, it wasn't my major.

- It's true my food photographs were recently published in a professional food publication, but it was just luck really - I just used a point and shoot camera - so it must have been a fluke.

- Professional Critics seem to get a balance of negative and positive comments on their blog posts but that kind of diversity of readership evades me. I mostly only seem to attract people who more or less agree with me. I am clearly not controversial enough.

- I don't have a business card for my blog which suggests I haven't been taking this hobby seriously enough.

- Fred or I always pay for our meals with our own money. This makes my consequent dining opinions less objective. Real critics have their meals paid for by the newspaper they are working for. They can afford to eat and critique dinner without ever questioning its worth and value or truly understanding how it feels to pay for your own food. I must apologize to my readers for having never been able to distance myself from that question of value for money.

- I have tried being a discussion leader but it hasn't really panned out for me. I rarely get more than about 30 comments per post.

- Since I turn down all offers of free food, wine, review copies of recipe books and cooking products from PR companies, I am not really up to date with the latest gadgets, cookbook authors and foodstuffs. Selfishly refusing these items has meant my readers have been kept in the dark about what's new on the food front.

- I have only eaten at 48 out of The Chronicle's Top 100 restaurants, and even then, I've tried some of them only once. I am never going to catch up.

- I am not made of very strong moral fibre and I don't always practice what I preach. Although I buy all my fresh produce from local farmers and source many of my other other foodstuffs from local artisans, occasionally I cave in and eat a Twix Bar or a bag of BBQ flavour Lays potato chips thus proving that my taste in food is dubious at best.

- I like to kid myself that I can throw grand, restaurant-style dinner parties with artfully plated course upon course. In reality I am unable to pull this kind of thing off without help from a food-professional friend.

- Nobody ever leaves comments about haggis on my blog.

- I am English.

picture photograph embroidered denim jacket hippy 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/

So when my mum asked me to join in her blogging event where she asks "to see a photo of a vintage item of clothes- it might be something that has been in your wardrobe for ever, that you can't bear to part with and the story behind it", I was suddenly reminded of my love of making things by hand. I have always been a crafty kind of person and I think it is a marvellous and fun direction to take this blog in from this day forth.

When I was about seventeen years old, I guess I started going through what you might call my 'hippy' phase. I got it into my head that I wanted to embroider a jacket. I bought the original jacket from an ex-boyfriend of mine called Ben Allen. My biggest regret is that it is a too-large boy-style jacket and not the more fitted, cropped, feminine shape that I prefer. That's probably just as well otherwise I would probably still be wearing this jacket today. I am saved from embarrassing myself.

And so it was, one summer somewhere in the eighties, whenever I had some spare time, that I would get out my needles and threads and I would start sewing another section. My plan was to eventually cover the entire jacket with my needle art, but as you can see, I never quite made it that far.

Prior to the current design, the back was embroidered with a simple Bowie Serious Moonlight logo, also my own handiwork. I removed it, not because I stopped liking the man, but because I had this far grander plan for the jacket.

I have many great crafty items lined up for you including jewellery making - both beading and silver work and the coolest napkin rings ever so I hope that many of my regular readers will stick with me through the changes here at Becks and Posh and the new exciting path I'll be taking.





© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
Becks & Posh to Become a Craft Blog.

57 Comments:

  • At 1/4/07 07:19, Blogger maria said…

    Happy April Fools day, Sam!? I hope?

     
  • At 1/4/07 07:33, Blogger Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said…

    Great April Fool's post!

     
  • At 1/4/07 07:38, Blogger Andrew said…

    I dont like haggis.

    But I do like the new marmite. I also read your blog over M Bauer...

     
  • At 1/4/07 08:00, Blogger Joy said…

    Have I told you lately that I love you?

     
  • At 1/4/07 08:17, Blogger Pille said…

    That would be a loss to the foodblogging community, so thank god it's April Fool's Day:) The jacket is pretty cool, though!

     
  • At 1/4/07 08:23, Blogger Beccy said…

    Good one Sam, you had me for a nano second!

     
  • At 1/4/07 08:32, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    thank god its april first
    no fool here
    you write so well

     
  • At 1/4/07 08:36, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Nice try, but you can't escape that easily!

    Perhaps, though, a long food holiday in a distant land might be just the ticket at the moment. You can write your book and then drop it off at your publisher on the way back. (Note, claim two deductions for that.)

     
  • At 1/4/07 09:13, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    No foolin'. One of my favorite food memories was when I was playing in the Edinburgh Festival many years ago, and Dewar's through a party for my group and the SF Ballet. To start the festivities, the lights came down, a bagpiper started his wailing, and 2 flaming haggis' came down the aisle. I asked what the difference between the two sheep stomach treats were, and the chef said "this one is traditional" and "this one is vegetarian."

    CD

     
  • At 1/4/07 09:42, Blogger Anna Haight said…

    Better be April Fool's as it would be a big loss to the food blogging community! I used to embroider my clothes as a teen too. But I'm not crafty any more.

     
  • At 1/4/07 09:46, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Thank God for the rampant sarcasm (and the advance warning) or I would have surely just choked on my breakfast.

    p.s. Ate at TWO again last night. It was good, again, last night.

     
  • At 1/4/07 09:49, Blogger anni said…

    You're a hoot!
    Whether it's a recipe, a review or a mere rambling of words, you always manage to inspire!
    I've been embroidering on denim for my little darlings for a few seasons now. They love my "thrift shop" finds and then the makeover designs their Auntie Anni has made for them.
    Keep on keepin' on!

    Tootles,
    Anni :-)

     
  • At 1/4/07 09:50, Blogger anni said…

    This comment has been removed by the author.

     
  • At 1/4/07 09:57, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Thick skin is overrated. Perhaps it is best just not to read what they are writing. And instead read your comments! Because we love what you have to say. And really, business cards for a blog...I'm thinking only someone not cool enough to be found on their own would need that.

    But the jacket is tres chic! Ah, the eighties...

    Hang in there, Sam!!

     
  • At 1/4/07 10:34, Blogger ChrisB said…

    Love it Sam now I can see why you are posting it today. Clever as always.

     
  • At 1/4/07 10:36, Blogger Trig said…

    lol.

     
  • At 1/4/07 10:36, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Sam--I know it's April's Fools...but definitely phooey on them!

     
  • At 1/4/07 11:44, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I'm a lurker around here but after reading this post, I felt I had to finally speak up and protest against it. I didn't realize until I read the comments that it was April Fool's. Thank god! Love your writing and I love food. I may learn to love embroidering but I'm not sure I want to.

     
  • At 1/4/07 12:33, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    This is really great news. I can't wait to see what you make next. And haggis is under-rated, don't you think?

     
  • At 1/4/07 13:05, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Am i the only one that didn't realize today is April 1.....good one!
    p.s. i always read your blog and very rarely M.B's.

     
  • At 1/4/07 13:38, Blogger Alice Q. Foodie said…

    Hilarious. Cheers, Sam - and Happy April Fool's Day!

     
  • At 1/4/07 13:52, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Happy April Fools Day Sam! I'm looking forward to many posts (about food) in the future :-)

     
  • At 1/4/07 14:34, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Cheeky!
    :)

    I love your blog, and greatly respect your knowledge and taste. Your personality shines through in every line. MB I don't read so much. Let's just leave it at that.

     
  • At 1/4/07 14:45, Blogger nika said…

    A pox on all those becks & posh naysayers who have NO sense of taste, sense, propriety, and shame.

    *hugs* and I know its an april fools thing, I can still so see the pain of the past week.

     
  • At 1/4/07 14:56, Blogger Monkey Wrangler said…

    Sam, was that an amanita on the jacket? (You did say hippie days.) Although your needlework is very nice, please, please tell me......oh yeah, duh. It's the date represented by the bakers golden ratio 4/1.

    No, really, I wanted to say thank you for your opinion on......anything. I drop by because you are you. Thanks.

    One more question: who is this Bauer person?

     
  • At 1/4/07 15:33, Blogger Guy said…

    Hey,

    I'm behind you 100%. I'm so tired of having to eat. I've worked at the same location for over 17 years. If I have to head out for food ONE MORE DAMNED TIME I THINK I'M GOING TO SCREAM !!!

    Okay, with the venue change. Does this mean you're going to revamp your site so I can view it? I have a badass 6 month old computer jacked in to a cable modem and it still causes me to wait over 15 minutes for your site to load. I love change, now I can hang out here.

    xo, Biggles

     
  • At 1/4/07 15:39, Blogger The Experimental Gourmand said…

    I'll stop lurking and chime in as well to say I hope this is an April Fools' joke. You have a great take on things and obviously enjoy exploring the SF/Cali foodscape. Don't worry about what experts say - they've been wrong before.

     
  • At 1/4/07 16:12, Blogger A Few Reservations said…

    If I'd had milk in my mouth, it would have come shooting out my nose. :)

     
  • At 1/4/07 17:06, Blogger Dagny said…

    This will become a craft blog the day that I stop enjoying cocktails.

     
  • At 1/4/07 18:12, Blogger Civic Center said…

    Oh, good, now you can become Queen of the Craft Blogs and leave all these dreary food people in your past.

    My favorite April Fool's Day suggestion was from my friend h. brown: "Call someone you've
    been feuding with. Make a sincere apology and ask if it's
    possible that you be friends again. Then yell...APRIL FOOL's!!!"

    And those haggis commenters over at Michael Bauer's blog really were almost as silly as the "Chronicle" itself.

     
  • At 1/4/07 18:31, Blogger Anita said…

    I think you would have an awesome craft blog...but I'm glad you're staying with the food blog instead. Keep it up!!

     
  • At 1/4/07 22:01, Blogger Molly said…

    He,he April Fool's...

    You have a fabulously crafted jacket.

     
  • At 1/4/07 22:30, Blogger Barbara said…

    Huh, oh, April Fools's Day, very good Sam

     
  • At 2/4/07 02:10, Blogger Gemma said…

    I can't stand traditional meat haggis but love vegetarian haggis. In Edinburgh there is a producer of vegetarian haggis samosas which are delicious, I recommend trying one if you ever see them!

     
  • At 2/4/07 05:31, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Love the jacket...reminds me of a denim shirt I embroidered in high school. What is a haggi?

     
  • At 2/4/07 06:33, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Great April Fool's . . . although I have moments like this every, I mean every other, I mean, every few days. All right, every day lately!

     
  • At 2/4/07 06:39, Blogger Kevin said…

    Sam,
    I've long suspected you were unqualified and I'm glad to see you've come to your senses.

    And, haggis.

     
  • At 2/4/07 08:07, Blogger Pamela said…

    regarding the fun monday... denim jacket. very well done.
    Put a needle or anything remotely acquainted to sewing in my hand and the hair on the back of my neck stands up

     
  • At 2/4/07 09:07, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    That's right Sam, leave the real work to the experts. Good girl, you know your place! I'm going to leave my full name here, along with my comment, so you can really know who I am. But remember, comments are a way for you to "lead" the discussion. I'm so glad we've got a great restaurant critic here in SF who can teach us the right way to blog!

     
  • At 2/4/07 09:21, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I hope it's an April Fools - or I can say "BAD news journalist be dammed"

    I think the jacket is awesome. I never did anything to my denim except stick a bunch of band pins on it.

     
  • At 2/4/07 09:48, Blogger AfKaP said…

    Sam - Haven't been reading your blog long enough to recognize an April Fool's post - but thought the jacket was just gorgeous! I did laugh at the part that says - you are English and therefore shouldn't have aspirations to food blogging! I'm impressed at all the fine restaurants you've dined at. I bet have three to my credit and mostly by accident!

     
  • At 2/4/07 10:06, Blogger nicole said…

    I have always wanted to try vegetarian haggis! I'm so glad it's April 1, and we can all have a laugh about it. Plus, 48 out of 100 restaurants!!! I'm impressed.

     
  • At 2/4/07 10:26, Blogger Cate said…

    I hope this was an April Fool's thing, Sam, but if not, hang in there. Like I said in my e-mail to you, your readers come here regularly for YOU, not for your credentials. Hope you'll continue.

     
  • At 2/4/07 11:25, Blogger Clare said…

    Reading your post makes me want a tall, refreshing drink of Haggis.

    Happy April Fool's Day :)

     
  • At 2/4/07 12:25, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    The jacket is gorgeous!!!! You are a woman of many talents.

    I'm not fond of haggis, but I eat it once a year at a Robbie Burns party some friends throw annually.

    And, PHOOEY on the San Fran Chronicle.

    I blog for the HOUSTON Chronicle, and, just for you, I'll do a haggis post on Friday. Come see me!

     
  • At 2/4/07 13:51, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Brilliant, Sam. (You might notice that I sat out April Fool's Day this year, after having fooled way too many people last year into thinking Monsanto employs actual human beings. I couldn't do THAT again.

    I could join you in your crafty work, though: I was an ace at embroidery in high school myself, and I wish I'd saved my incredible jeans, overalls, and other things I spent hundreds of hours making.

    Keep up the good work: you don't need thick skin when you are surrounded with so much love.

     
  • At 2/4/07 17:02, Blogger Delphine said…

    It was worth escaping five minutes from the nursery :)

    Even if laughing still hurts a bit, I loved it!

    You are very good at embroidery Sam, I didn't know you had such talents!

     
  • At 2/4/07 17:49, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Great blog! Just ignore the whining. And we can all look forward to the day when there's a blogger's school where we can pay someone else for a degree and be declared professionals.

     
  • At 2/4/07 19:18, Blogger sher said…

    OK! I was getting really agitated, thinking you were really quitting! Very good! Very, very good!!!!!!

     
  • At 2/4/07 23:34, Blogger The Yorkshire Foodie said…

    Haggis is the new burger. Nil carborundum illegitimi.

     
  • At 3/4/07 05:11, Blogger s'kat said…

    LOL! It's the food world's loss, but apparently, the craft world's gain. (I really like the jacket, though!)

    :P

     
  • At 3/4/07 08:35, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Well guess what ; i am a french food Blogger and a very controversial one indeed ( even if it doesn't look ike it unless you read french i 'll see) and i swear that doesn't work either ...stay the same , i love reading your blog and we share a same sad expérience too...
    anyway you are a lousy liar ...(ush hope you can read my scrambled english ?)
    Garance

     
  • At 3/4/07 09:10, Blogger Sarah said…

    Ha! Thank you Sam for putting a smile on my face. That was great!

     
  • At 4/4/07 19:06, Blogger Deborah Dowd said…

    Creative outlet is creative outlet! You obviously have talents beyond the culinary. I have way fewer qualifications that you do but to me the only question is do I enjoy posting and do enough others enjoy my posting to make it worthwhile? So far, the answer has been yes! Either way- crafts or food- you'll continue to have lots of readers! Great AFD post!

     
  • At 5/4/07 08:00, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Thank God you don't have a cooking degree, you're not a journalist, and you don't subscribe to the Chronicle's 100 best restaurants.That is precisely why I love to read your blog!

    To me Sam, your blog represents San Francisco food culture better than any other one I can think of. Um, but my girlfriend Natalie Zee, has already got the craft thing covered in SF so maybe pick another topic!?!?

    Bisous and Happy April Foold day, Ms. Glaze

     
  • At 6/4/07 11:21, Blogger Jeanne said…

    That's a waaaaaay impressive jacket. I now wish the sequinned peacock I embroidered on a cushion at school was on a jacket instead! Craft envy ;-)

    And as for culinary diplomas and journalism degrees - they are overrated in my opinion. When I make if to SF, it will be YOUR reviews I rely on.

    And I'm always ready, fingers poised over keyboard, to comment on haggis should you require me to. Just say the word.

     
  • At 19/5/07 10:02, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

     

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